Reading First,Libraries Last: An Historical Perspective on the Absence of Libraries in Reading Education Policy

Abstract

Reading education has been high on the public policy agenda in the United States. This article addresses the question of why public and school libraries have not been actively involved in legislative efforts to promote children's reading development. An historical perspective on the place of libraries in current reading education policy in the United States is provided, and two possibilities are assessed—1) that libraries have changed, shifting in their institutional identity, and 2) that conceptions of the reading process and the best instructional practices have undergone a dramatic transformation in the wake of the cognitive revolution. The author concludes that newer models of reading focus on cognition and the sociocultural contexts in which literacy occurs, and justify greater attention to the role of libraries in children's print literacy development.

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